January Marketing Blog

Planning and Executing Your Health Promotion Event 

The start of a new year is always filled with reflections of the past and high hopes for the future. Annual budgets are planned, fitness centers are booked to capacity, and resolutions are enthusiastically planned. For business owners, the start of a new year is exciting, but it can also be overwhelming as you begin to plan and implement your marketing goals and strategies. Don’t worry. We’ve all been there. To help you get started, here are a few tips and ideas to help you plan and execute a successful health promotion event.

Planning

“A business owner who fails to plan, plans to fail” ― Joseph Covello & Brian Hazelgren

  • It is always a great idea to start planning your event several months in advance, especially if you are enlisting the help of community partners, which I strongly suggest you do.
  • Create a list of potential partners and begin calling, emailing and setting up meetings to assign roles, create a check list and discuss the event concept, place and time. Potential partners can be: community leaders and organizations, local businesses, local government agencies and media partners who share a common interest in the health observance.
  • Once you have the event details mapped out, begin recruiting volunteers, speakers and community liaisons.
  • Practice makes perfect! Before you begin promoting your event, do a run-through. Circle back around to your partners to make sure they are all still on board.
Promoting

“Without promotion, something terrible happens...nothing!” ― P.T. Barnum

Now that you have a solid plan in place, it’s time to get the word out! Not only will you need to recruit attendees, but depending on the size of your event or how successful you are in obtaining community partners, you will also need to recruit volunteers.

  • Just like good manners, good promotion begins at home. The first item of business is announcing your event on your website and social media pages – as well as those of your community partners.
  • There are many avenues to take when promoting an event: social media, traditional media, posters, fliers, etc. A great place to promote community events is on community calendars – from city- or county-wide calendars to neighborhood association calendars. If you find a community organization that does not have a calendar, call and ask if you can submit a short write-up for publication in their upcoming newsletter or bulletin. Other ideas are: posting fliers on bulletin boards at neighborhood and community centers, places of worship, libraries, schools, clinics, stores, etc.
  • Create a local media list. Check with your community partners to see if they have a solid relationship with the local media. Call and send a press release to local access tv stations, radio stations and newspapers.
  • College and high school campuses are prime locations to recruit volunteers, but administrators are extremely busy. Ask if you can post fliers on bulletin boards and write a short promo ad for them to post on their website, social media and digital newsletters. Leave a few fliers behind and ask that professors and teachers make announcements during class.
Evaluating

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.” ― Winston Churchill

You made it! The event is over, but was it a success? Since this won’t be your last event of the year – it is good practice to have a post-event debriefing session to assess what went right, what went wrong and the changes you plan to implement to make your next health event a greater success.

Additional Resources

February is American Heart Month, so show customer appreciation by promoting Valentine’s Day with Healthy Heart marketing and events. Hold free blood pressure screenings and offer specials on aspirin, Omega3 and other heart healthy supplements. And, since it’s National Children’s Dental Health Month, offer oral health product coupons for parents and a free toothbrush with Dental Activity Sheets (English | Spanish) and Coloring Sheets (English | Spanish) for kids. If you have space in your pharmacy, post a few of the sheets up on a bulletin board.

For a complete list of 2019 National Health Observances with free hyperlinked resources, download the American Pharmacies 2019 Pharmacy, Health and Wellness Observances Calendar. Additional tips and resources are available in the Marketing Resource Center.